Here’s the ultimate Guide to the CNE this year

The Canadian National Exhibition is back after two years of being cancelled. To celebrate 144 years of the CNE there will be a ceremony that will take place at Princes’ Gates at 10 am on the 19th of August. This much-loved annual celebration starts tomorrow until September 5th and will include some new features as well as some old ones that were missed. There are tons of events and unusual yet intriguing foods that you can try this year. Check out our detailed guide to the CNE below so you can plan your trip efficiently.

Must-Try Things to Do

2022 Warriors’ Day Parade: The 100th Anniversary of the Warriors Parade will be taking place on August 20th at 10:30 am. The parade will commemorate all those who served and still serve today. To celebrate Canada’s military victories the event will include the traditions, colour, and sounds of our Regiments and Squadrons.
Concerts

CNE Bandshell: You can enjoy tons of concerts on the CNE Bandshell states from Canadian artists like Marianas Trench, Tom Cochrane, Jay Douglas, the Command Sisters and more. There will also be concerts taking place on their Midway stage, wine garden, and casino.

Comedy Shows: If you’re looking for a laugh, catch a comedy show. Comedians Howie Mandel, Nour Hadidi from Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, Ali Hassan from CBC’s Laugh Out Loud and Run The Burbs, and Canada’

4th Annual Gaming Garage: Get ready gamers because the CNE’s Gaming Garage powered by AMD is back for the full 18 days! Although this is a reoccurring event the CNE is introducing a Robotics Competition this year. You can also expect an esports tournament, Innovation Garage, Pitch Competition, PinBall, and card games. Head over to theex.com to register for these activities.

Celebrity Kitchen Stage: The CNE’s kitchen stage will feature famous chefs like Ted Reader otherwise known as the “Godfather of the Grill,” Chef La-Toya Fagon who was the first food expert on the Marilyn Dennis Show and a personal chef to the Toronto Raptors, and more. Learn different cooking techniques and cuisines from the best chefs in the business.

Cat Show: If you love cats then you don’t want to miss the CNE’s annual cat show at Café Soleil in their Enercare Centre. Over 125 cats will be participating in the competition on August 27 and August 29th so don’t miss out on seeing these adorable animals strutting their stuff.

Art Exhibits: This year the CNE will be hosting several art exhibits including National Geographic: The Greatest Wildlife Photographs, Benjamin Von Wong’s “Giant Plastic Tap,” A Trip through 103: Therapy for the Soul, and more. If you’re someone that appreciates some good art head over to theex.com to learn all about the art exhibits that will be showcased at the CNE this year.

Kids’ World: If you’re taking the kids then you have to take them to the mini-Midway. They have many interactive activities and shows. Bob the Builder and Dorathy & Wags from the Wiggles, and Cirque Wonderland will be performing on the Kids World Stage. They can also participate in a Pizza Nova Making Shop and dig for prehistoric facts with Dino Dig.

73rd Annual Canadian International Air Show: The air show is back celebrating its 73rd year at the Canadian National Exhibition. The aerial acrobatic jet team the Canadian Snowbirds will be making their return. The show will also feature the United States Air Force F-35 demonstration team and the Canadian Forces SkyHawks which are Canada’s military parachute demonstration team.

New Activities

Nightly Drone Show: Every night at 10:45 pm an exclusive drone show designed for The EX will light up Princes’ Gates. The drones will display colourful formations and images that will surely make for an exciting show.

NEVAEH & The NorthStar: The drones will also be featured in the CNE’s new multimedia show presented by VinFast. The show portrays the relationship between Nevaeh, a tech-savvy teenager with her guiding light which is depicted by drones. This show will include augmented reality, pyrotechnics, and theatrical technologies of projection. There will be three shows daily at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Food Truck Festivals

If you’re a foodie then you have to visit the CNE because not only are they introducing some new foods but there will be three themed food festivals happening this year. Check out all the details about the food festivals below.

Mardi Gras Food Truck Festival

First up is the Mardi Gras Food Truck Festival which will be taking place from August 20th to August 23rd. Check out all the food trucks that will be there below:

• Cheesecake by Heirloom
• Creole Boucanier
• Gourmet Guys
• The Gators Tail
• The Smoke Shop BBQ
• What a Jerk

Food Truck Frenzy & Craft Beer Festival

Next is their annual Food Truck Frenzy & Craft Beer Fest which will be featuring over 25 vendors. It will be taking place from August 25th to the 28th in front of the Beanfield Centre and Enercare Centre. You can try everything from mouth-watering burgers to BBQ to churros and beavertails a CNE classic. Check out all the food trucks participating in the festival below:

• Beavertails (NEW!)
• Delight Bite (NEW!)
• Mustache Burger (NEW!)
• Bacon Nation
• Bake Three Fifty
• Burgatory
• Chimney Stax
• CORNehCOPIA
• Curbalicious
• Eva’s Original Chimneys
• feasTO
• Fidel Gastro
• Food Dudes
• Gourmet Guyz
• Hank Daddy BBQ
• I Love Churros
• Pappas Greek on wheels
• Philthy Phils
• SWAT (Sandwiches With A Twist)
• Tdots Naansence
• Texas Tornado
• The Colossal Onion
• The Urban Smoke
• Toben Food By Design

Celtic Food Truck Festival: New to the CNE this year is the Celtic food truck festival that will be running from Sept 1st to the 5th at Princes’ Boulevard. This festival is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s book Ulysses. At the festival, you can enjoy Celtic foods, music, and entertainment. Here is a list of food trucks that you can expect at the food festival.

• Craigs Cookies on Hold
• feasTo
• Forkin Perogy
• Mustache Burger
• Road Grillers
• Tasto
• The Hungry Moon
• The Ultimate Moon

Must Try Foods At the CNE

Timbits Poutine – Tim Hortons is back with their new CNE creation. This year you can try their new Cookies and Cream Timbits Poutine, Birthday Cake Poutine or even a Chocolate Lover’s Poutine. Don’t expect meat though, just Timbits and whipped cream.

Deep Fried Snickers – For the ones that love their Snickers deep fried.

Light-sabre cotton candy – Any star wars fans want to try their hand and tastebuds at a light-sabre cotton candy treat? This tall light-sabre cotton candy is enough to feed two people and also lights up.

Cinnamon curd crunch – The CNE’s original deep-fried cheese curds are back but this year its creators have added a cinnamon crunch twist.

State Fair Hot Dog – This beef hotdog is covered with aged cheddar and topped with caramel popcorn. Good for a ball game!

10” Giant Mozzarella sticks – A 10” Giant Mozzarella stick for the cheese lover.

Food Building

Krispy Kreme Pulled Pork – Pull’d – $15 – Pull’d has taken two Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts and threw in some pulled pork and coleslaw in the middle. Legendary.

Colour-Changing Soda – Eative’s – Food Building – $12 – What kind of voodoo is this? This colour-changing soda is that of a lava lamp once you turn on the LED light at the bottom of the cup. These drinks transform from blue to purple when you swirl to activate it.

‘Hella Sweet’ Edible-Slime – Eative – $5 – Eatives ‘Hella Sweet’ Edible-Slime turned sugar into a soft candy that is stretchable like slime.

2ft Long Taco – Machete – Food Building – $25 – Thanks to Machette now you can indulge in 2ft taco. This long taco features a choice of either chorizo, ground beef or mushroom and Oaxaca cheese.

Leaning T.O.wer of Pisa – San Francescos’ – $14 – San Francescos has brought forth a creation of herb panko-crusted meatballs with mozzarella sticks in a waffle cone drizzled with garlic aioli.

Croffles – Fuwa Fuwa – $9 – What do you get when you combine a croissant with a waffle? You get the ‘Croffle’. This Treat comes topped with soft ice cream options such as tiramisu, Oreo, chocolate banana or fruit.

Eva’s Mac & Cheese Cone – Eva’s Original Chimneys – $12 – This is for the vegans that want partake in the food. This mac and cheese cone deal comes with stuffed butternut cashew mac & cheese, crispy jalapeños and pesto aïoli.

Jerk Mac and Cheese – Eva’s Original Chimneys – $12 – This is another option and comes with jerk mac and cheese with crispy plantains and jerk aïoli.

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Smash Burger – Bacon Nation – $17 – This Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Smash Burger comes with extra thick bacon and Cheetos hidden between two red hamburger buns which are made from Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Squid Cakes – Farm to Fryer’s – $12.50 – The Squid Cakes feature three wheels of chopped squid that are covered by a thick deep-fried crust and topped with squid ink aioli.

Spice Cream – CafEhTO – $8 – Who would have thought you can enjoy some nice cool spicy ice cream? Now you can at the CNE. This combination of food pairs sorbet with Tabasco. You get to choose from peach mango spiced ice cream or black currant spiced sorbet. Also available is a nitro Matcha green tea and nitro coffee floats.

Midway

Mac & Cheese Lemonade / Spicy Pickle Lemonade – Real Fruit Drinks – $10 – The creators of 2019’s pickle lemonade are back with a new take on their old drink. This drink still features pickle and lemonade but also now Tabasco or Mac and Cheese.

Ketchup and/or mustard soft serve – So Cute Ice Cream – $10 – Mustard or Ketchup flavoured ice cream, anyone? This creation of mustard and ketchup soft serve features a sweet and savoury take on ice cream and it also comes with a pretzel or fries.

Squid-Ink Korean Corn Dog – SaltSpring Concessions – $10 – This Korean Corn Dog is made with hotdogs that are spliced at the ends to give a squid feel, wrapped in mozzarella and dipped in inked batter with Panko crumbs before being deep fried.

Princes’ Blvd

Seoul-ful Taters – GYOTFT – $17.50 – Get Your Own Taters Food Truck presents its 2022 CNE creation with its crispy tater tots. This creation can be topped with everything from sausage and shrimp, pulled pork and mac and cheese to even Korean BBQ bulgogi and Kimichi.

How to Get There

If you’re coming from the Greater Toronto Area then GO Transit is your best bet. The GO trains will drop off you right at the Exhibition Place.

If you’re taking the TTC they’re several street cars downtown that will take you directly to the CNE grounds. If you live in the downtown area look out for these streetcars below.

• 511 Bathurst Streetcar
• 504B King Streetcar
• 29 Dufferin Bus
• 509 Harbourfront Streetcar

If you’re driving you can get to the CNE straight from the Gardiner Expressway, but details on parking at the ex haven’t been revealed just yet.

Tickets:

Advanced tickets purchased before Aug. 18 are $20 while advance ride passes are $41.25.
Presto cardholders can save on tickets and get 36 to 45 per cent off admission and ride tickets by entering their presto card number by August 18th here.

General Ticket Prices:

$25: General admission (14 to 64 years)
$20: Adults 65 and better
$20: Children (ages 5 to 13)
Free: Children four and under
$75: CNE Family Pass (two adults and two children or one adult and three children)
To purchase tickets and ride passes head over to their website.